STARS MAY NET ‘WAG TIME’

GARETH SOUTHGATE could allow his England stars to have some private time with their WAGs this weekend.

The players’ wives and girlfriends have been banned from attending the team’s Souq Al-Wakra hotel in Doha at the World Cup due to Covid restrictions.

But Southgate is keen to find a compromise as he looks to keep the mood in the Three Lions camp upbeat.

A host of England aces, including Jack Grealish (inset), were allowed to speak to their families inside the Khalifa International Stadium following the 6-2 drubbing of Iran on Monday night.

England face the USA in their second Group B game on Friday night and Southgate is considering relaxing the Covid rules – provided there is not a spike in the number of positive cases beforehand.

“We’re going to have to monitor it throughout,” said England manager Southgate.

“There’s this balance of the spirit and happiness of the group and the medical line of zero risk.

“And sometimes if you’re going to take zero risks, it can kill it for everybody. “We’ve got to try and find that balance. “We’re going to see how the next few days go and we’ve talked about maybe looking at doing something after the second game.

“But we’ve got to monitor what the rates out here are as much as anything else.”